A wide variety of mechanisms exist for adjusting the position and shape of supports used for the human body. As used herein, the term “body support” includes without limitation any deformable element or structure adapted to support one or more parts of (or the entire body of) a human in one or more positions. Examples of body supports include but are not limited to mattresses. In those cases where body support adjustment is desired, such adjustment is often performed by changing the shape of a foundation, frame, or other structure underlying the body support (hereinafter referred to simply as a “base”). By way of example only, the base can be an adjustable frame having one or more motors operable to raise and lower one or more areas of the frame, such as areas of the frame corresponding to the head and/or leg portions of the overlying body support. As another example, the adjustable base can also alter one or more angles of the overlying body support with respect to a horizontal plane.
Typically, body supports are supported on adjustable bases by gravity and the weight of one or more users. In some cases, a single fixed bracket is provided at an end of the body support to prevent the body support from sliding off of the adjustable base or otherwise shifting with respect to the base.
In some applications, body supports are resistant to adjustment based upon the material comprising the body support, the construction of the body support, the body support's thickness, and/or other factors. For example, some body supports are resistant to deformation from a generally planar state, and therefore do not readily conform to the shape of the underlying adjustable base in one or more states of the adjustable base. As a result, undesirable spaces can exist between the body support and the adjustable base, and/or one or more ends of the body support can extend past the edges of the adjustable base to an undesirable extent.
By way of example only, and with reference to the prior art body support 10 and body support base illustrated in FIG. 1, the body support 10 is a multi-layered foam mattress having an overall stiffness preventing the body support 10 from conforming to the shape of a foundation 18 and a frame 20 in all positions of the foundation 18 and frame 20—despite the use of a single stationary bracket 28 coupled to the foot end 26 of a foundation 18 of the body support base. The single stationary bracket 28 prevents the body support 10 from sliding off the body support base in one or more positions of the body support base. Nevertheless, an undesirable space (designated by a height “B” in FIG. 1) can exist between the body support 10 and foundation 18 in some positions of the foundation 18 and frame 20, and the head end 22 of the body support 10 can extend significantly beyond the edge of the foundation 18 in some positions of the foundation 18 and frame 20. These issues and other design problems continue to be challenges to the design of comfortable adjustable body supports.